up and comers- the wax idols

so you know when you hear about a band, but haven't seen them live cause they haven't toured to yr neck of the woods yet (or if they did you missed em) and the band doesn't have a release out (well maybe a cassette, but limited to a hundred copies that only got into the hands of their friends...).....but you hear that one of yr fav labels (HOZAC) decided to put their first seven inch out, cause the folks at hozac are forward-thinking people and arbiters of good taste in rock n roll bands......

so yr excited about this little known band, that for all you know may or may not actually exist. and of course they have a strange name. and or course they're from oakland. and yes members of said band may or may not have been in other little known bands that you've seen and added to yr top ten lists.......

but the label is set to release this single in march, maybe april, and maybe only through their singles subscription series, yet you still want to let people know about this band. cause this band could be yr life. or at least one fuckin party if you even get to see 'em live. or at least one jam on that next mix you make.........

so......the wax idols. awesome girl group fuzz pop garage. a soon to be released single on hozac. and a band you will definitely hear more from. better than best coast. give yr dum dum girls a run for their money. ought to team up with golden triangle or vivian girls for a tour. or just tell the garage rock boys they can rock even better......

so listen below and grab that single from hozac when its released.

the SOLO side project series on TROUBLE IN MIND

so what if you wanna hear songs by yr favorite garage rock songwriter yet can't wait for that new lp to finally hit the stores?

TROUBLE IN MIND has the answer. they're set to release some awesome 4 song ep 7 inches by yr fav artists later this march, in what they call the SOLO SERIES.

the first two releases are from the frontman of cheap time and the hex dispensers. this is not yr sappy indie rock daytrotter session (though don't get me wrong, i like daytrotter). these singles will be some rockin new songs for you to chew on for the spring time. jeffrey novak of cheap time already has a seriously good solo lp, so his 7 inch will be a must have..... and alex cuervo of the hex dispensers has written some damn fine songs himself, so i can't wait to hear what his single sounds like......

go to a record store near you on march 22, or jump over here to the trouble in mind site to grab these new jams........

listen below to a single of jeffrey novak's lp "after the ball".......

x-ray eyeballs - new single and an lp on the way

from the village voice:

"Xray Eyeballs is the sunny, garage-pop alter-ego of guitarist O.J. San Felipe (of Golden Triangle), a lazy-Sunday neo-Nuggets shout-along where a chorus can totally be "Let's all get high" if you want. His band's debut album, Not Nothing (out April 19 via Kanine) has the extroverted hooks of your favorite tri-colored Lookout! vinyl seven-inch, but was recorded via inward-gazing, bongwater-soaked lo-fi mushcore production -- as San Felipe says, "Jeremy Scott has some nice microphone tricks to make me sound like a caveman singing in a cave." Not Nothing's opening track, "Crystal," has flickers of Jay Reatard or Modern English, but it's mostly just a venue for San Felipe to belt cracked Valentines while his GT bandmates Carly Rabalais and Jay High churn along. Though Golden Triangle's glam-sleaze steez and multiple songwriters set them apart from Xray's teddy-bear punk, San Felipe's seems extra pumped to point out one difference: "I get to write love songs."

Xray Eyeballs frontman O.J. San Felipe on "Crystal"

What is "Crystal" about?
"Crystal" started off as a song about these girls I knew who did too much crystal meth, but somehow it evolved into kind of a break-up song, unexpectedly. So now it's a crystal meth breakup song!

What inspired it musically?
I was inspired by New York City in the late-night hours. Just ending up at random places with random people and situations and exposure to danger and shady things . . . I like going out dancing, and I wanted to make a song that DJs can throw on and make people dance at the immediate drop of the needle, or right when the bassline kicks in . . . kinda like when the Cure's "Just Like Heaven" comes on at a party and people freak out. Not to say we sound like the Cure or anything, but the way people lose it when that first bouncy drumbeat and bassline comes on, that's a hard thing to capture.

Xray Eyeballs is kind of part of a very poppy wave of New York punk, alongside the Men, the Obits, Pregnant -- can you attribute this wave to something?
Hmmm, I don't know what to attribute, but I like me a wave of poppy NY punk. I don't even write songs. I just make up a bunch of guitar and vocal hooks and put 'em all together, cram as many catchy things as I can in two and a half minutes and then it's a song. Hopefully at least one of those hooks will stay stuck in someone's head. It's percentages!"

watch the sexy video for "crystal" below. pick up the single from hozac records. (or preview/obtain it here) and buy the new X-Ray Eyeballs LP when it comes out. highly recommended......!

Xray Eyeballs "Crystal" from Painless Surgery on Vimeo.

and don't forget to see them live in a town near you......

XRAY EYEBALLS - 2011 TOUR DATES
3/7 - Black Cat - Washington, DC*
3/9 - Pinhook - Durham, NC &
3/10 - Little KIngs - Athens, GA
3/11 - 529 - Atlanta, GA
3/12 - Savannah Stopover Festival - Savannah, GA
3/13 - Siberia - New Orleans, LA
3/14 - Warehouse Live - Houston, TX
3/15 - 3/20 - SXSW - Austin, TX
3/22 - Valley of the Vapors Festival - Hot Springs, AK
3/23 - Hi Tone - Memphis, TN $
3/24 - Schubas Tavern - Chicago, IL %
3/25 - Atlas Bar - Detroit, MI @
3/26 - Beachland Ballroom - Cleveland, OH

* w/JEFF the Brotherhood
& w/Spider Bags
$ w/Surf City, PUJOL, Turbo Fruits
% w/Nones
@ w/Terrible Twos

(thanks to brooklyn vegan, village voice and nodatta for pretty much the entire contents of this post. sometimes i feel like my blog is more like a mash-up or collage than an actual zine, or anything close to writing...... so thanks to those i've borrowed from always....)

human eye

HUMAN EYE is hell bent noise punk....maybe post garage rock or post apocalyptic run through the ruins of detroit rock.....not quite sure how to classify the mayhem they seem to produce..... but for fans of noise rock, HUMAN EYE is a must see. not some kids with beards playing with tape loops and knobs on their keyboards, this is full in yer face punk--though more like the bastard child of suicide, 13th floor elevators and the black flag...... maybe a little psych, but please don't take any hallucinogens at their show, you will have nightmares.......

In the Red Records has this to say about HUMAN EYE.....

"From the ashes of punk stalwarts The Clone Defects-- who broke up in October '04-- rises a new and incredible band fronted by Defects' Tim Vulgar. Human Eye has rotated more heads than an exorcism televised during half-time at the Super Bowl. Vulgar calls what Human Eye does alien punk, though it is primitive enough to recall the basic punk attack of The Dead Boys or any Killed By Death band you care to name colliding with Throbbing Gristle or Chrome. You know, earthy but art-damaged...."

watch the videos below for a taste of the sheer inner ear problems you need to have friday night....twice if you feel like it....(at the empty bottle and early at permanent)

this week in shows:

Friday Mar 11th at Empty Bottle

*Human Eye

*ET Habit

*Drugs Dragons

*Birth

(ALSO A FREE in-store with Human Eye @ Permanent Records 5PM BYOB!)

Saturday Mar 12th at Empty Bottle

* Obits

* Jaill

* The People's Temple

* Loose Dudes

Saturday Mar

12th at Hideout SXSW send off 1:30PM Show

* Outer Minds

* Chaperone!

* Mickey

* Radar Eyes

* Tiger Bones

* Skull Orchard

* Rabble Rabble

* Waco Brothers

Monday Mar 14th at Empty Bottle

* Ty Segall

* Heavy Cream

* Half Rats

* Slushy

see you there... an action packed weekend for sure.

jacuzzi boys sunday night at the hideout

one of the lesser known bands of the current swarm of up-and-coming garage groups....the jacuzzi boys deserve yr attention. lo-fi bluesy frantic garage punk with a stompin beat that drives any crowd into a frenzy. this is not some cute indie inflected garage pop for the hipster kids' ipods. this is catchy hum -along sweaty rock n roll......

so if you aren't doing anything sunday night, catch the jacuzzi boys with tyler john tyler at the hideout. 9pm and cheap at only $8..... and i will see you there.

(buy their lp on florida's dying. and their new lp out on hardly art...sometime soon)

don't believe me. watch below:

parting gifts are a must see!

i must admit i'm a fan of everything greg cartwright has done musically. so its not too surprising that i love his new project, the parting gifts. melodic soulful garage pop with a hint of country southern blues and good old rock n roll unpretentiousness....

the parting gifts is greg trying to replicate the record he did with mary weiss of the shangri las, "dangerous game" (on norton records). the parting gifts just trade in a legend of 60s girl group pop for the young lead singer, coco, of the ettes. i'm not much a fan of the ettes punk girl group vibe, but coco is a good vocalist and an awesome counterpoint to greg's raspy singing. thus there's a layer of harmony to the parting gifts you don't often get in the other current garage bands.....and well greg cartwright has written so many awesome songs that ought to be pop standards that any chance for more tunes from him is always welcomed. "keep on walking" gets stuck in my head just as much as "bad man" or "stop and think it over"....

the point is that there are many good bands that write good music, but so few people can consistently write catchy rock n roll songs like greg cartwright. and to see the parting gifts live, you'll see all the energy and heart he pours into the music. music that makes you want to dance and party and unwind from the the 9 to 5...... and fuck the music critic in me, last night at the empty bottle was a fantastic rock n roll time. you need to see the parting gifts live.....or if not them, catch greg out on the next reigning sound tour. well worth yer time and money....

see them live and watch below.....